Patent monitoring: new filings from competitors and your field, every week
Patent monitoring that keeps up with every new publication. Each week Sai runs your saved searches in public patent databases, by competitor, inventor, classification and keywords, finds what was published or granted since the last run, and logs each document with its claims summary, status and link. Your team reads one short list instead of running the same searches by hand.
The routine
# Routine: Weekly patent watch
Schedule: Weekly on Monday at 9:30 AM
Runs on: Scout's computer
Ask me before acting: no
Stop a run after: 1 hour
## Each run
1. Open the Patent Watch sheet. Each row is a search: assignees, inventors, classification codes, keywords, and which databases to use.
2. Run each search for documents published or granted since the last run.
3. For each new document, record the number, title, assignee, inventors, filing, priority and publication dates, classification, status (application or granted) and link.
4. Read the abstract and the first independent claim, and write a two-sentence plain summary.
5. Tag each document with the search that found it, and skip anything already in the Watch log.
## Rules
- Read only. Don't download more than the documents found, and don't buy or order anything.
- Summarize what the document says; don't judge scope, validity or freedom to operate.
- If a search returns too many results to review, log the count and the first 20, and say so.
## Send me
New documents by search, the ones from named competitors first, and a link to the updated Watch log.What is patent monitoring?
Patent monitoring, or a patent watch, is the regular review of newly published patent applications and granted patents for chosen competitors, inventors, technologies or classification codes. Companies use it to follow what competitors are filing, spot prior art and early warnings for their own products, and see where a field is moving, without waiting for a product launch to find out.
The searches stay the same from week to week; only the new results change. That repetition is what makes patent monitoring a routine.
How this routine monitors patents
Every week Sai runs your saved searches:
- Read the watch list. Each row in the Patent Watch sheet is a search by assignee, inventor, classification code or keywords.
- Run the searches. Sai uses the public patent databases you list and finds documents published or granted since the last run.
- Record the details. Number, title, assignee, inventors, dates, classification and status go into the Watch log with a link.
- Summarize. A two-sentence summary of the abstract and first claim helps your team decide what to read in full.
- Report. Documents from named competitors come first, grouped by the search that found them.
What you get every week
Analysis of scope, validity or freedom to operate stays with your patent attorney; the routine makes sure nothing new is missed.
- New applications and grants for each search, with links
- A two-sentence summary of each document
- Competitor filings at the top
- A Watch log that builds into a history of the field
Ways to monitor patents, compared
Teams usually pick one of these.
| Method | Setup | Uses your own searches | Summaries included | Ongoing effort |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Running searches by hand | None | Yes | No | High every week |
| Email alerts from a patent database | Low | Partly, per database | No | Medium: alerts to read across databases |
| Patent analytics software or a watch service | Medium to high | Yes | Often | Low, with a subscription or service fee |
| A Sai routine | Paste the routine, list your searches | Yes | Yes | Low: read the log |
Large IP teams with landscape analysis needs are better served by patent analytics software. For a startup or a small team that wants to follow a handful of competitors and topics, a routine keeps the watch going. To watch brand names instead, use trademark monitoring.
How often should you check new patents?
Weekly matches the publication rhythm of the major patent offices, so each run covers one batch of new documents. Slow-moving fields can switch to monthly. Use Repeat in the demo above to change it.
Set up the routine in Sai
- Copy the routine above and paste it into Sai, or click Start with Sai.
- Set the schedule to Weekly on Monday at 9:30 AM.
- Leave Ask me before acting off; the routine only searches and writes to your log.
- Create the Patent Watch sheet with one search per row: assignees, inventors, classification codes and keywords, and the databases to use.
- Check the first run against a manual search to tune the keywords.
Results can be turned into a monthly summary deck with Google Slides automation. The AI research analyst guide covers the wider research workflow.
Why use a computer use agent for patent monitoring?
Public patent databases each have their own search syntax and screens, and their alerts arrive in different inboxes. A computer use agent runs your searches in each database the way an analyst does, reads the documents and writes one consistent log.
Sai ranks at the top of OSWorld, the open benchmark for computer use, which is why the same set of searches can run every week without someone repeating them.
Skills this routine uses
- Website data to Excel or Sheets: Pull prices, listings and tables from websites with no export into a clean Google Sheet or Excel file, on a schedule if you want.
- Excel automation: Clean, merge and update workbooks, refresh a model from new numbers, and build the weekly report in the real Excel app.
- Google Slides automation: Build decks in Google Slides from a reference deck and your notes, and turn your corrections into rules Sai follows next time.
Related guides
- AI research analyst: Sources, searches and briefs
- Routines in Sai: How schedules, approvals and run limits work
- AI investment analyst: Company and market research